Unit Outline
BMA604
Consumer Decision-Making
Semester 1, 2024 - ECA
Lin Yang
Tasmanian School of Business & Economics (TSBE)
College of Business and Economics
	CRICOS Provider Code: 00586B

Contact Details

Unit Coordinator

Lin Yang

Email: L.Yang@utas.edu.au

Contents

What is the Unit About?................................................................................................................................ 3

Unit Description............................................................................................................................................ 3

Intended Learning Outcomes................................................................................................................... 3

Requisites...................................................................................................................................................... 3

How will I be Assessed?................................................................................................................................ 4

Assessment schedule................................................................................................................................ 4

Assessment details..................................................................................................................................... 4

How your final result is determined........................................................................................................ 7

Submission of assignments..................................................................................................................... 7

Requests for extensions............................................................................................................................ 7

Late penalties................................................................................................................................................ 7

Review of results and appeals................................................................................................................. 7

Required Resources....................................................................................................................................... 8

Required reading materials....................................................................................................................... 8

Recommended reading materials............................................................................................................ 8

Other required resources........................................................................................................................... 8

Unit schedule................................................................................................................................................. 10

AACSB Accreditation................................................................................................................................... 11

Sustainability.................................................................................................................................................. 11

What is the Unit About?

Unit Description

For marketers, understanding how buyers and consumers behave is an integral part of correctly identifying their needs, and developing effective marketing strategies. Buyers often go through decision-making processes before making a purchase or making a decision to continue to buy and to consume a product or service. Thus, consumer decision-making, and the popular use of the term consumer behaviour, refers to the decision-making processes and behaviours of consumers.

Understanding consumer behaviour enables marketing managers to critically analyse their potential or current target markets and design strategies tailored to meet their needs. The focus of this unit is on developing students knowledge of consumer decision-making processes and the factors that influence consumers decisions, purchases and consumption of products and services.

The unit will help students identify, synthesise and critically evaluate how consumers perceive marketing stimuli and make decisions to purchase. The unit will develop students theoretical and applied knowledge of consumer behaviour theories and concepts in order to analyse, explain and predict consumers behaviour. The unit will help students to identify what stimuli marketers can use to influence consumers decision-making, purchase and consumption.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:

1.	Explain consumer decision-making behaviour theories and concepts.
2.	Critically evaluate marketing actions and strategies in relation to consumer decision-making.
3.	Analyse the role of sustainable and non-sustainable consumer behaviour in marketing.

Requisites

REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Concurrent Pre-requisite	BMA506 Foundations of Marketing OR admission to C5V or admission to 37N

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule

ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Assignment	Week 10	45 %	LO1, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Assessment 3: Final Exam	Exam Period	35 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	Assessment 1: Presentation and Quiz	Refer to Assessment Description	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Assignment

Task Description:

Assessment 2: Consumer Behaviour (CB) - Brand Analysis
The CB - brand analysis assignment is designed to allow students to develop through research a practically orientated project. It is an individual project. The ‘CB - brand analysis’ offers the opportunity for students to tap into different aspects of the concepts and theories covered in the unit on an applied basis to develop a deeper understanding of key areas of consumer behaviour and decision-making and develop a report. The focus of the assessment requires that students apply the concepts and theories they have learned during their study in this unit to a single branded product from a list of selected brands.The list consists of a range of brands including but not limited to those focusing on environmentally sustainable products, experience promoting consumer wellbeing, as well as conventional products.
** NOTE: The list of brands and detailed information for the assessment task will be placed on MyLO.

Task Length:

3000 words ± 10% (excluding references).

Due Date:

Week 10

Weight:

45 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)

1	Identify consumer behaviour theories/concepts and apply these to the ‘real-world’ of both sustainable and non-sustainable consumer behaviour.	LO1
2	Critically analyse the application of consumer behaviour and decision-making knowledge in business marking activities and make recommendations.	LO3
3	Research, analyse, and synthesise information relevant to consumer decision-making and behaviour relevant to firms.	LO3

Assessment Task 2: Assessment 3: Final Exam

Task Description:

The final exam will be a take-home exam submitted through MyLO. The exam may consist of short/long answer questions and/or case study analysis related to the lecture and workshop material covered in the unit. The final exam focuses on knowledge of theory and concepts and their application. The format will be outlined on MyLO prior to the exam.

Task Length:

24hrs exam.

Due Date:

Exam Period

Weight:

35 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)

1	Explain consumer behaviour theory and concepts and apply these to the ‘real-world’ of consumer behaviour.	LO1
2	Identify consumer behaviour theories/concepts and apply these to the ‘real-world’ of both sustainable and non-sustainable consumer behaviour.	LO2
3	Compare and evaluate consumer decision-making and behaviour issues in various contexts.	LO3
4	Research, analyse, and synthesise information relevant to consumer decision-making and behaviour relevant to firms.	LO3

Assessment Task 3: Assessment 1: Presentation and Quiz

Task Description:

Workshop Activity 1 - Student presentation and discussion. Students will form teams of three or four and prepare for presentations to be delivered in workshops. Workshop topics will be allocated to students within the class. The presentation topics and schedule will be made available on MyLO by the end of Week 2.

Students are expected to research topic-related theories and practices, utilise various resources, and identify the insights or provide solutions. It is important for students to be able to stimulate discussion. This workshop approach represents an opportunity for audiences to provide input and asking pertinent questions on the topics. A summary report will accompany the presentation and be submitted. Each member of the team needs to participate in the delivery of the presentation.

**Note: Assessment requirements and marking criteria will be placed on MyLO and discussed in the first workshop. Distance students are expected to undertake the same exercises and practices as face-to-face students. Distance students will submit recorded presentations, summary reports, and participate in online forum sessions for discussion (Q&A) on MyLO.


Activity 2: Online Quiz (10%)

Students will take an online test designed to assess their knowledge and application of key concepts and theories covered in the recorded lectures, textbook chapters, and the workshops from Week 1 to Week 6. The online quiz will be available on MyLO in Week 7. Students will have 50 minutes to complete the quiz, and only one (1) attempt will be permitted. The quiz is open-book and contains 25 questions randomly selected from Multiple Choice Question pools.

Task Length:

Activity 1: 25 minutes maximum (minimum length of 10 minutes and a maximum length of 15 minutes, plus 10 minutes for questions and presenter-facilitated discussion). Activity 2: 50 minutes (25 questions quiz)

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)

1	Explain consumer behaviour theory and concepts.	LO1
2	Critically evaluate marketing actions and strategies in relation to consumer decision-making.	LO2
3	Compare and evaluate consumer decision-making and behaviour issues in various contexts.	LO3
4	Research, analyse, and synthesise information relevant to consumer decision-making and behaviour relevant to firms.	LO3

	How your final result is determined
	To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.
	Submission of assignments
	Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.
	Requests for extensions
	If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension. A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator. The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.
	Late penalties
	Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.
Review of results and appeals
		You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

Hoyer, W.D., MacInnis, D., Pieters, R., Chan, E. & Northey, G., 2020, Consumer Behaviour, Asia-Pacific Edition, 2nd ed., Cengage Learning, Australia.

Recommended reading materials

Mothersbaugh, D. L. & Hawkins, D. I., 2016, Consumer Behavior: building marketing strategy, 13th ed, McGraw-Hill, USA.

Quester, P., Pettigrew, S., Kopanidis, F., Rao Hill, S. & Hawkins, D., 2014, Consumer Behaviour: implications for marketing strategy, 7th ed, McGraw-Hill, North Ryde NSW.

Sethna, Z. & Blythe, J., 2016, Consumer Behaviour, 3rd ed, Sage, London, UK.

Schiffman, L., O'Cass, A., Paladino, A. & Carlson, J., 2014, Consumer behaviour, 6th ed, Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW.

Solomon, MR 2013, Consumer behavior: buying, having and being, 10th ed, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Other required resources

In addition to the texts/software recommended above, you are also expected to be familiar with the key academic journals in the discipline from which useful insights may be derived. In particular, you are encouraged to review regularly the relevant papers that are published in:
European Journal of Marketing
 Journal of Consumer Behaviour
 Journal of Consumer Research
 Psychology and Marketing
 Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
 Journal of Product & Brand Management
 Australasian Marketing Journal
 Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services
 Journal of Services Marketing
 International Journal of Consumer Studies
 Journal of Sport Management
 Journal of Marketing
 Journal of Economic Psychology
 Journal of Marketing Research Electronic Markets
 Journal of Advertising
 Journal of Advertising Research
 Journal of Consumer Affairs
 Journal of Business Research
 Journal of Fashion Management & Marketing
 Journal of Consumer Marketing
 Journal of Consumer Policy
 Journal of Consumer Psychology
 Journal of International Consumer Marketing
 Journal of Public Policy and Marketing
 Journal of Asia Pacific Marketing & Logistics

Unit schedule

Week	Date beginning	Topic/Module/Focus Area	Activities	Resources/Readings/Further Information
1	26 February	Introduction to Consumer Behaviour	Introductory workshop Go through Week 1 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 1
2	4 March	Decision Making Proces 1	Go through Week 2 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 6
3	11 March	Decision Making Proces 2	Go through Week 3 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 7
4	18 March	Decision Making Proces 3	Go through Week 4 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 8
5	25 March	Motivation, Ability and Opportunity	Go through Week 5 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 2
Mid-Semester Break: Thursday 28 March – Wednesday 3 April 2024
6	8 April	Perception	Go through Week 6 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 3
7	15 April	Memory and Knowledge	Go through Week 7 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 4
8	22 April	Attitudes and Persuasion	Go through Week 8 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 5
9	29 April	Social Influences	Go through Week 9 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 9 & 12
10	6 May	Consumer Diversity	Go through Week 10 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 10
11	13 May	External and Internal Influences	Go through Week 11 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 11
12	20 May	Symbolic Consumer Behaviour	Go through Week 12 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 13
13	27 May	Contemporary Issues in Consumer Behaviour	Go through Week 13 Learning Content folder on MyLO	Chapter 14
Study Period: 3 June to 7 June
Exam Period: 8 June to 25 June

AACSB Accreditation

The Tasmanian School of Business and Economics (TSBE) gained initial Business Accreditation from the AACSB International (AACSB) in July 2021 – the lead program for accrediting business schools globally. AACSB seeks to connect educators, students, and business to achieve a common goal – to create the next generation of business leaders.

AACSB is the most reputable standard in business education and TSBE is now one of an elite group of the world’s business schools. By being an AACSB accredited School, TSBE has joined a global alliance committed to improve the quality of business education around the world, and to share the latest innovations in business education.

Gaining Business Accreditation with AACSB means that we have satisfied a multi-year process involving TSBE demonstrating our performance against the 15 accreditation standards.

TSBE has joined a select community of accredited business schools, with only five percent of all business schools globally accredited with AACSB. This will further enhance the reputation of TSBE, as well as the global recognition of your qualifications. To find out more about AACSB click here.

Sustainability

The College of Business and Economics is now a PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) signatory. We are committed to the six PRME values of Purpose, Values, Method, Research, Partnership and Dialogue and you will see in various units how we embed sustainability values in our teaching and research and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Across all sustainable development goals, our university is ranked at 25 overall globally, and for Sustainable Development Goal 13 – Climate Action – UTAS is the number one university. For more information about PRME, click here.